BG60718B1 - Method for continuous production of beer wort - Google Patents

Abstract

The method is used in the brewing industry. It ensures optimum filtration and high yield of the extract. The method consists in continuous enzymic malt treatment in at least one rotary disk contactor and separation of the treated grain from the malt-hot water mixture in a separator. There follows continuous jellification and enzymic liquefaction of a mixture based on non-malted grain, malt and/or a source of enzymes and water in a rotary disk contactor, addition of malt and/or a source of enzymes to the turned our product, enzyme treatment of the turned out product and separation of the treated grain from the mixture of malt and hot water in a separator.

Description

The invention relates to a method for the continuous production of wort.

In the preparation of cereal beverages, in particular beer brewing, must is used. Traditional production of must is done by mixing the starting materials including, for example, non-malted grain (corn) and water. The hard materials are first crushed (crushed into powder) and then mixed with water. The resulting suspension is left for a time at a temperature of at least 40 ° C in the presence of a source of enzymes, for example malt, in which gelling and liquefaction is carried out. In the next phase, the enzyme processing of the mixture / brewing mash / continued after additional addition of malt and / or an external source of enzymes.

It is also possible to obtain a wort based on malt and water. Then the first step is omitted.

The product thus obtained consists essentially of water, insoluble components of the raw materials, as well as soluble components thereof such as fermentable and non-fermentable sugars and proteins. In the traditional method, this mixture is filtered to remove insoluble components, the grain used. The resulting filtrate or extract is the lean wort. Hops are added to the beer to the hops and the mixture is boiled. The whole grains, if formed, are removed and the leavened must is cooled to about 8 ° C and left to ferment.

Research has been carried out on the continued implementation of the fermenting and non-fermenting sugars gelling, liquefaction and processing steps. More specifically, the study concerns the conduct of these steps in a jacketed heat exchanger (1). This study has not led to practical application.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the invention is to provide a method for the continuous production of wort in which no pollution problems and the like are encountered and there are substantially no limitations on the particle size of the raw materials used.

The invention relates to a method for the continuous production of wort, comprising continuous enzymatic processing of malt in a rotating disc contactor and separation of the used grain from the brewery into a separator. The invention also relates to a method which involves the continuous gelling and enzymatic liquefaction of a mixture of non-milled grains, a source of enzymes and water in a rotating disc contactor, addition of malt and / or source of enzymes to the resulting product, enzymatic hydrolysis of this product and separating the used grain from the brewery into a separator.

Preferably, the enzymatic processing is carried out continuously in a rotating disk contactor.

It is possible that the process is carried out in one or more disk contactors. The number of contactors depends in part on the nature of the raw materials used.

When non-milled grains are used, two reaction steps are carried out, the first of which is the gel-crushed material which is gelled and liquefied under the influence of a system of enzymes. This system of enzymes often comes from malt. In the second phase, malt and / or additional enzyme system are added and further reactions are carried out. Thus, the reaction must be carried out in two stages, which can be carried out in two reactors, although it is also possible to use a single reactor provided that it is provided with exits at suitable locations. When using only malt without unmalted grain, it is sufficient to carry out only the second reaction step that can be done in a reactor.

It has been found that it is entirely possible in the process according to the invention to obtain wort wort without the problems inherent in the known methods of continuous production of wort.

The solid components such as malt and non-milled grains used according to the invention are first ground, for example, in a hammer mill, to such a particle size that they can pass through filters having an aperture size of 5 to 5 mm.

The reduced solids are mixed with water and fed to the reactor or reactors. When non-milled grains are used, a temperature of 40 to 100 ° C is maintained in the first reaction step. Gelling and liquefaction under the influence of its own enzyme system is performed. In the second reaction phase, malt and / or source of enzymes and water are added together with the product obtained in the first reaction phase. At this stage, enzymatic hydrolysis occurs. The temperature in this reaction step ranges from 30 to 80 ° C. When no unmalted grain is used, this is the only reaction phase and a mixture of malt and water is fed to it.

According to the invention, a rotary disk contactor is used, which is a known type of column reactor, for example, described by Kick-Kreut (2).

Such a type of reactor consists essentially of a column fitted with a centrally located agitator shaft to which 10 or more discs or plates are attached. These discs or plates cover at least 80% of the cross-section of the column. Generally, this surface does not exceed 95%. By rotating the shaft and the discs in the column, the solid dispersion of solid matter in the liquid is performed.

In connection with the desired option to clean the column, preferably a system is used in which the shaft can be easily removed, for example, due to the absence of bulkheads in the column.

The use of a rotating disc contactor has the advantage that the particle size of the raw materials can be adjusted almost independently of the device used. In combination with the use of continuous filtering of the wort, this means that the particle size of the starting materials can be chosen almost freely so that it is optimally adjusted regardless of the type of apparatus of the method.

The separation of the processed grain from the slurry can be done in different ways. For example, it can be accomplished by traditional filtering of the must. This, in particular, is an opportunity if an existing brewery has to be expanded. By simply adding a rotating disc contactor, in combination with a buffer tank, the capacity and efficiency of the brewery can be greatly increased. In this case, the enzymatic processing can also be carried out in a traditional, continuous manner.

The advantages of the process according to the invention may be better if the filtering of the wort is also carried out continuously, for example, by using a combination of mixers and settlers. The use of membrane filtration is preferred as this results in an optimal effect in terms of the process continuity and efficacy of the wort preparation.

A preferred embodiment of the process according to the invention is characterized in that the used grain is separated from the slurry in at least one membrane filter element, if desired with the subsequent addition of hops to the must and boiling.

Membrane filtration is accomplished using at least one membrane filter, but preferably using a multistage filter, for example, a multistage, balancing flow filter as a three-stage device or a multi-stage, reverse-flow filter.

Membranes in the membrane filter have a mesh size of not more than 2.0 μm, preferably from 0.1 to 1.5 μm. This size of the holes reflects on the optimum functioning of the filtering element, since with such a size of the holes a good clear wort with a high yield of the extract is obtained. The membrane filter also has only a good cleaning effect. The material from which the membrane is made is not very important. Particularly important is mechanical stability at the filtering temperature of lean wort. In addition, the material should be suitable for use in contact with food. Particularly suitable are membranes based on ceramic materials.

It should be noted that European Patent Application 0265152 relates to filtration of wort by using a membrane having a hole diameter of 10.0 to 100.0 μm. As can be seen from the text of this publication, the purpose of the membrane is to separate the used grain from the slurry, the advantage of which is that in this way raw materials with a smaller particle size can be used. This provides advantages over the efficiency of extracting sugars from raw materials.

However, the membrane filtration according to this publication does not result in a clear wort which is easily adapted for further use. In particular, the text of the publication finds that leavened wort as originally obtained is not purified from suspended particles, so further filtering is necessary, which is a disadvantage of this method.

When using an aperture-size membrane within the limits defined by the invention, the yield of the extract is better than when using a larger-sized membrane. In addition, less membrane clogging occurs. The latter has the advantage that the method can be applied continuously since much less membrane cleaning is required.

The wort obtained by the method according to the invention has a clarity measured as EBC units at 65 ° C of 0.25 to 5. The wort is mixed with hops and the mixture is boiled. Flocculations of substances such as proteins and polyphenols can then be obtained. Optionally, this flocculated material in the form of coarse sludge can be removed, for example in a separator. After cooling the wort to a temperature in the range of 2 to 25 ° C, preferably to about 8 ° C, the wort may be fermented to produce beer. It is preferred that boiling of the wort is carried out continuously with the recovery of at least part of the heat. Appropriate devices are known from the literature. These devices can be based, for example, on multi-effect evaporators with heat exchange of the gases used with the liquid to be boiled. The heat can be used successfully for gelling, liquefaction and / or enzymatic hydrolysis.

The cooled wort may be fermented, possibly after it has been stored in a buffer vessel. The invention also relates to a method of making beer using a wort obtained in the manner described herein.

Another aspect of the method according to the invention is that the particle size of the solid materials very little affects the functioning of the filters, contrary to what is claimed in the cited European patent application.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGURES

The invention can be illustrated with the accompanying drawings which show an example of a production scheme of a preferred embodiment of the method of the invention. Fig.2 shows a detailed three-step countercurrent membrane filtration. Figure 3 shows a cross-flow membrane filtration performance.

The process scheme of Figure 1 shows a mixer 1 to which water of about 55 ° C, ground non-milled grain and ground malt is fed via pipelines 2, 3 and 4, respectively. After mixing, the mixture is fed via line 5 to the first rotating disc mixer 6 which consists of an agitator shaft 7 provided with discs 8. The reactor 6 is provided with heating elements not shown and with which the reactor contents can be brought and maintained at the desired temperature.

The product from the reactor 6 is fed via a line 9 to a rotating disk mixer 10. Water at a temperature of about 55 ° C and ground malt is fed through the pipes 12 and 13 to the mixer 11. The resulting mixture is fed through the conduit 14 to the bottom of the column 10, where it is mixed after a certain residence time with the product from the reactor 6. Through the pipeline 15, the resulting slurry is fed to a membrane filter 16 to which water is additionally fed through the conduit 17. By conduit 18, the clear wort obtained is drained from the membrane filter. The used grain is removed via line 19.

The clear wort is mixed with hops supplied via pipeline 20. The mixture of wort and hops is fed to a heat exchanger 21 in which it is preheated with heat from the brewing phase. The prewarmed wort is fed to a boiling plant 22 in which it is boiled for some time.

The product obtained in the brewing process is fed through a conduit 23 to a separator 24 in which the precipitated substances are released as proteins and polyphenols. The clear wort is then fed through a conduit 25 into a cooler 26 in which it is cooled. Pipeline 27 can be fermented.

Fig. 2 shows a possible construction of a three-step countercurrent membrane filter.

In this figure, the malt / water mixture / slurry is fed via line 51 to the first membrane filter 52 from which the clear wort flows through line 53. A portion of the concentrate retained by the filter 52 is returned via line 54 to the feeder end of the filter together with the permeate from the second membrane filter 55. The remainder of the concentrate is fed via line 56 to the second membrane filter 55. The permeate of this membrane is returned via line 57 to the first membrane filter. The remainder retained by the second filter 55 is partially returned to the feed end of the second membrane filter 55 via line 58 and the remainder is fed via line 59 to the third membrane filter 60. The permeate of this third membrane filter 60 is returned via line 61 to the feed end of the second membrane filter 55. A portion of the concentrate retained by the third filter 60 is returned via conduit 62 to the feed end of the third filter 60 together with water fed through the conduit 63. The remainder of the concentrate, the grain used, conduit 64.

The description of this system is based on a three-stage filtration facility, but it is possible to vary the number of degrees according to requirements using the same principle.

Fig. 3 shows the embodiment of a flow-through filtration arrangement based on a three-stage apparatus, but the number of steps may be varied as required using the same principle.

In Fig. 3, the slurry is fed via conduit 100 to the first membrane filter 101 from which the clear wort is passed through line 102. The concentrate from the filter 101 is partially fed through the conduit 103 to the second membrane filter 104 and partly returned via a pipeline 112 to the feed end of filter 101. Water is fed via line 105 to the feed end of filter 104. Filter permeate 104 is passed through line 106 and mixed with permeate from first membrane filter 101. The retained residue from second filter 104 is partially fed to pipeline 107 to the third membrane filter 108 together with water fed through line 109 and partially returned via line 113 to the feed end of filter 104. The permeate of this third membrane filter 108 is mixed through pipeline 110 with the permeate from the first two filters. The remainder of the retained residue and the grain used are partially discharged via line 111 and partly returned via line 114 to the feed end of filter 108.

EXAMPLES FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF THE INVENTION

The invention can be illustrated by the following example, without being limited thereto.

Example 1: To the mixer 1 of the device according to Fig. 1, 5 kg of corn, 2.5 kg of malt and 22.5 l of water at 55 ° C are added per hour. Corn and malt are milled in a hammer mill to such a particle size that it allows them to pass through a 1.5 mm mesh filter. The 50 ° C mixture is fed to a rotating disc mixer in which the temperature rises to 95 ° C. The total residence time of the mixture at 50 ° C is 5 min, while the residence time at 95 ° C is 10 to 15 min.

To the mixture 11 is added 15kg of malt with the same particle size and 45 1 of water at 55 ° C per hour. The resulting mixture is at a temperature of 50 ° C and fed to the bottom of the second rotating disc mixer.

The product of the first rotating disc mixer is fed to the second rotating disc mixer at such a rate that the residence time of the malt and water mixture is about 15 ° C at 50 ° C. By admixture with a hot product, the temperature is increased to 65 ° C. This temperature is maintained at 30 ° C, then raised to 76 ° C and this temperature is maintained for a further 5 minutes.

After this treatment, a slurry with an extract content of about 21.5% is supplied to the membrane filtration unit 16. The assembly is shown in Fig. Membrane filtration using 0.4 mesh apertured membranes gives wort wort having a clarity of 0.3 eur units (at 65 ° C). After mixing with hops, boiling, separation of the formed coarse sludge and cooling, a cold wort of 8 ° C can be obtained, which can ferment to beer.

Claims (12)

Claims CLAIMS 1. A method for the continuous production of beer must, characterized in that it involves the continuous enzymatic processing of malt into at least one rotating disk contactor and the separation of the used grain from the slurry into a separating element. 2. Method for the continuous production of beer must, characterized in that it comprises continuous gelling and enzymatic liquefaction of a mixture based on malted grain, malt and / or a source of enzymes and / or water in a rotating disk contactor, adding malt and / or source of enzymes to the resulting product, enzymatic processing of the resulting product and separation of the processed grain from the slurry into a separating element. Method according to claim 2, characterized in that the enzymatic processing is carried out continuously in a rotary disk mixer. Method according to claims ί-3, characterized in that the solid materials used can be passed through filters with mesh sizes from 5 µm to 5 µm. 5. The method according to claims 1-4, characterized in that the separation of the processed grain from the malt slurry is carried out in a membrane-filtering device with a mesh size of not more than 2.0 µm or in a traditional filter or in a mixer. / precipitator until clear beer must is obtained. 5 Method according to claim 5, characterized in that the separation of the processed grain from the malt slurry is carried out continuously in a membrane filtration device. The method of claim 5 or 6, 10, characterized in that the membrane filtration is carried out in at least three degrees. A method according to claims 1-7, characterized in that the wort is boiled after the addition of hops. 15 A method according to claim 8, characterized in that the brewing of the wort is carried out in a system is heat recovery. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the recovered heat is used in gelling, liquefaction and / or enzymatic processing. A method according to claims 1-10, characterized in that it is a hopped beer hall After the clarification and purification, 25 musts are cooled and allowed to ferment. 12. A method for making beer, characterized in that the wort obtained by the method of claims 1-11 is 30 fermented.